The removal of carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and other sulfur compounds from impure gas streams such as natural gas or synthesis gas is desirable, for among other reasons, to prevent damage to equipment, to improve the heating value of the purified gas product and to make the gas product to be suitable as feedstock for downstream processes. Differences in a number of properties between the impurities like hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide and the desired gas product can serve as potential bases for gas separations. These differences include solubility, acidity in aqueous solution, and molecular size and structure. Possible separations can therefore rely on physical or chemical absorption into liquid solvents, pressure swing or temperature swing adsorption with solid adsorbents, and membrane systems.
Liquid solvent based absorption (i.e., “wet”) systems, for example, are commonly used for natural gas and synthesis gas purification to remove hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide and other impurities. These contaminants can be preferentially absorbed in physical solvents such as dimethylethers of polyethylene glycol or chemical solvents such as alkanolamines or alkali metal salts. The resulting hydrogen sulfide and CO2-rich (i.e., “loaded”) solvent is subsequently regenerated by heating to recover the contaminants such as hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide and produce a regenerated solvent that can be recycled for further re-use in the absorption process. Solvent regeneration is also normally conducted at a reduced pressure relative to the upstream absorption pressure to promote vaporization of absorbed carbon dioxide from the solvent. The carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide may be recovered in more than one stream, including vapor fractions of flash separators and regenerator column vapor effluents.
Chemical solvents, and particularly amines and other basic compounds, react with acidic contaminants such as hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide, to form a contaminant-solvent chemical bond. Considerable energy release is associated with this bond formation during the thermodynamically-favored acid-base reaction. Consequently, substantial heat input is required to break the bonds of the chemical reaction products and therefore to regenerate chemical solvents. Physical solvents, on the other hand, do not react chemically with gas contaminants, but instead promote physical absorption based on a higher contaminant equilibrium solubility at its partial pressure in the impure gas (i.e., a higher Henry's law constant).
Physical solvents that remain chemically non-reactive with the contaminant components find wide applications in absorption systems for gas separation. The Selexol process, which is licensed by Honeywell UOP, Des Plaines, Ill., is a process known for removal of carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and other sulfur compounds such as carbonyl sulfide (COS) and mercaptans from feed streams such as syngas produced by gasification of coal, coke or heavy hydrocarbon oils by using a particular physical solvent. Such processes can also be used for removal of ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, and metal carbonyls. The solvent circulation in a Selexol process is usually high compared to a chemical solvent such as an amine. The high solvent circulation could require high regeneration heat input in such cases and may lead to increases in operating cost.
There is a need for an improved process for the removal of acid gases from feed streams using a solvent. Further, to address the problems of high utility consumption and increased operating costs, there is a need for a new process to efficiently operate the processing unit with reduced solvent circulation rates and reduced utility consumption.